How School Board Meetings Became Flashpoints for Anger and Chaos Across the Country
In the first wide-ranging analysis of school board unrest, ProPublica found nearly 60 incidents that led to arrests or criminal charges. Almost all were in suburban districts, and nearly every participant was white.
Forensic psychological expert: #MAGA "victimhood" is a major recruitment tool for #violence
"The sense of loss is a major driver for recruitment,"
One of the defining features of the rise of American neofascism is violence. This is in no way surprising: violence is one of the primary tools that enemies of democracy use to impose their will, undermine institutions, and prevent the types of consensus-seeking that's foundational to a healthy democracy and society
The anti-abortion crusade (because that’s what it is: a pre-modern overtly violent Christian campaign to conquer The Others™) is a vestigial throwback to ancient Roman policy of “partus sequitur ventrem” which became English common law, and the American colonies adapted it to weaponize sexual violence against people who were considered property (i.e. chattel slaves).
I actually loathe having to flag racism because I hate it but it is still happening. I flag, I confront, I don't pretend it doesn't exist. How can I pretend, when in recent years, hateful racism has arisen to points I was assaulted by racist antimaskers, calling me "fucked up gook" "Chinese plague girl" "Yellow shithead" & worse. While white folks said/did nothing to show me they have basic human decency.
#Republican-appointed judges raise alarm over #Trump attacks on #law
Federal DC Judge #ReggieWalton warned Trump’s attacks on #HushMoney trial judge & others could lead to #violence.
The Republican-appointed judge denounced Trump’s attacks against the judge presiding over his hush money trial in Manhattan & his daughter, calling them assaults on the #RuleOfLaw that could lead to violence & #tyranny.
Au moins 44 journalistes travaillant sur l'environnement ont été assassinés depuis 2009. Vingt-quatre ont survécu à des tentatives de meurtre. C'est ce qu'a rappelé l'Unesco dans un rapport publié hier, à l'occasion de la journée internationale de la liberté de la presse. ☠️
Why are works of #fiction (books, comic, animation, film) depicting #rape or #pedophilia more offensive to more people and cause more calls to boycott or censorship than fiction depicting extreme #violence or #murder, when killing someone is universally regarded as worse than raping someone (morally worse) and criminal systems everywhere punish murderers more harshly than rapists (legally worse)?
@popsci explores the question: "Archeological evidence shows bloodshed waxes and wanes, influenced by climate and other factors." https://flip.it/o2N8j4
In her usual masterful way as an accomplished historian, Heather Cox Richardson recounts today what led up to the KKK bombing of Sixth Street Baptist church in Birmingham, Alabama, in 1960, and the deaths of four Black girls.
The bombing took place five days after Birmingham schools were integrated. The recognition of equal rights for Black citizens unleashed a torrent of hate that led to monumental acts of violence.
I wrote about the rise in political violence in America, and how our fractured reality is making it hard to see the perilous path we’re heading down. #politics#extremism#violence
The top U.S. #intelligence ofcl on Mon warned that the #war in #Gaza could embolden #terrorist groups, which are aligned in their opposition to the #UnitedStates for its support of #Israel.
“The crisis has galvanized #violence by a range of actors around the world. And while it is too early to tell, it is likely that the Gaza conflict will have a generational impact on #terrorism,” #ODNI#AvrilHaines, told an annual hearing on #GlobalSecurity#threats.
BREAKING: Trump knew the insurrectionists were armed before they attacked and breached the Capitol. His lead secret service agent testified under oath that he told him.
So, Secret Service and Ms. Hutchinson both testified under oath that the criminal defendant was informed the crowd was armed. And he ordered the armed & dangerous mob to march to the Capitol and stop the certification of our election.
That seditious bitch don-the-con: "They’re not here to hurt me."
What a fucking monster. An insurrectionist. A Fraud. A rapist. A #BigLie liar. A fascist dictator loving thug.
Sometimes people take politics too personally, eventually resorting to violence but the question is whether violence is justified during the time of elections?
Nearly half of voters across a group of swing-states said they expect violence around the upcoming presidential election, according to a new poll.
"What did the media do in response to this broadside threat? Yawned. Oh, rather, it ran another story about voters worried about Joe Biden’s age and the price of gas.
The media has an important role in protecting democracy. If it can’t rouse itself to condemn threats against freedom of the press, it will deserve what happens if Trump is elected."
The insurrection leader did say that he didn’t want there to be metal detectors deployed ‘because they’re not here to hurt me' Donald Trump incited his angry mob of his followers to go to the Capitol knowing some of them were armed. He ordered them to march to the Capitol, to fight like hell and to stop the certification of the election.
The criminal defendant tried to steal our votes, to steal our election.
As Kevin Kruse reminds us, on this day in 1963, white racial terrorists bombed Sixteenth Street Baptist church in Birmingham, killing four Black girls, fourteen-year-olds Addie Mae Collins, Cynthia Wesley and Carole Robertson, and eleven-year-old Carol Denise McNair.
This also happened on the same day, he reminds us:
"Consider: Over the last several days, Donald Trump has called for the execution of one of the nation’s top generals, threatened prosecutors, mocked the hammer attack on Nancy Pelosi’s elderly husband, and endorsed more extra-judicial killings.
Sarah Posner takes a close look at PRRI findings released this week which show that 60% of evangelicals doubt the legitimacy of the 2020 election, and yet they are the most determined demographic to vote (78% say they are certain they will cast a ballot in 2024). A third of white evangelicals say they are on board for political violence to secure their control of the country.
What a luxury and privilege it is to sit back and sagely proclaim that one is "against all violence." Such talk is truly a luxury of the privileged, to which not everyone can afford access.
In the real world, difficult choices must be made, and sometimes they involve legitimate violence, in self-defense, to protect or rescue innocents, to prevent even greater violence, and even to administer justice.
It is very important to be clear in one's own mind about the cost and the value of different deployments of violence.
Everyone one has the right to be a pacifist and to "turn the other cheek", but no one has the right to demand that others live by their personal pieties.
Justice and ethics are too pressing for such small-scale personal piety.
If only we actually could say truthfully that "violence is not the way." Tragically, sometimes violence is exactly the only way.